The Meanings of Japanese Dragon Tattoo and How to Find One You Truly Deserve
Posted: Monday, January 28, 2008
by Vince Edwards
The Japanese dragon tattoo is one of the most popular mythological creatures picked for inking and a classic choice for a tattoo design. It is usually depicted as a wingless, heavily-scaled snake-like creature with small clawed legs and a horned or antlered camel head, and is associated with sea, clouds or the heavens. Japanese dragons tend to be much more slender and fly less frequently than the Chinese counterparts. The breath of the Japanese Dragon changes into clouds from which come either rain or fire. It is able to expand or contract its body, and in addition it has the power of transformation and invisibility. This is merely a general description and does not apply to all Japanese dragons, some of which have heads of so extraordinary a kind that they cannot be compared with anything in the animal kingdom.
According to most sources, the Japanese dragon is closely related to the Chinese counterparts, with the exception that the Japanese dragon has only three claws, while that of the Celestial Kingdom (China) has five. This is the same in the tattoo designs.
Tattoo artists have taken the art of the Japanese dragon to amazing new levels. Whether you want a full back design or a half sleeve design, you will find an incredible gallery of amazing designs to choose from. They can be in color, or black & white. The dragon tattoo may appear with sea wave or clouds or pearls. If the dragon claw holds an enormous magical pearl, which has the power to multiply whatever it touches, the "pearl" symbolized the most precious treasure: Wisdom. Ancient Dragon lore and illustrations have inspired many of us to select a dragon tattoo because that design represents how we feel about ourselves -- strength, wisdom and freedom...
The popular locations for inking Japanese dragon tattoos.
Japanese dragon tattoos can wrap around the body and flatter the contours of the body, full body and full back dragon tattoos are quite common, and the most popular location is half sleeve, the body of the dragon wrap around the upper arm and the dragon head extend out the upper front, just above the heart. Because of the long shape of the dragon, it also suited for inking on arms and legs.
Where to Find Perfect Japanese dragon tattoo designs for Inking?
Increasingly, web sites have popped up to specifically help people find tattoo designs. In general, these types of sites could be put into three different categories:
1. Websites with free designs to browse through.
2. Websites with subscription fees to view entire design collection.
3. Websites that charge for single design.
The first two types of websites provide free Japaneses tattoo designs which are usually donated by anyone who can draw a dragon, and the free designs are usually small blur images which are not tattooable, moreover, the variety of designs is very limited as well. In contrast to the free crap, the paid designs come from professional Japanese tattoo artists, and the variety of paid designs is copious enough for you to pick up the perfect one for inking. Moreover, the paid design includes the matching stencil outline for the design which your tattooist will use to create the actual tattoo on your body. Many tattooists will actually charge more if you bring in a design without stencils to pay for the time it takes them to create them.
After all, getting an awesome Japanese dragon tattoo that perfectly flows with your body is what makes you feel proud. Am I right? There are many good reasons to get an awesome Japanese tattoo and there are many ways to screw it up. The most important thing to find a perfect Japanese tattoo is to take your time browsing through numerous tattoo collections before you settle the one for inking.
Why not try the gigantic dragon tattoo design gallery at Dragontattoosart.com ? it has thousands of great looking, categorized dragon tattoo designs that you can browse through at your leisure, from the comfort of your home...
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